Aflamed
by G. Sun
Summary: Finally Risa comes face-to-face with the strange person in the dark armor who ended Deidra's Heartless life. As their words haunt her, she is faced with the decision to either take his offer to bring her back home, leaving Knuckles on Angel Island, or fight him. Meanwhile, a girl who works with Seth is about to bring Metropolis to its end. Read after ORDERS
1. Chapter 1

**It took forever to get this started but finally I did so here we go**

"You're crazy," comments Knuckles when I finally tell him about the message in the fire that has been perpetually haunting me. "That could mean a whole bunch of other things-I think you're thinking too hard."

"What else can it mean?" I ask defensively. He hums thoughtfully and then gives up in an impatient huff. "I don't know, but not that. I didn't know you were so superstitious."

"It has nothing to do with that," I protest. My former housekeeper Miriam was very superstitious, she told me someone had died in our home and was haunting it unless we had moved out. Hidden away under the couch and behind the fireplace were ancient antiques and spell tags that were supposed to drive evil spirits away. I assumed they were fake because they did not help her when she turned into a Heartless. "I saw what I saw and whether you believe it or not does not matter much to me. I am just apprehensive of things to come." Knuckles gives me his favorite countenance, the "I have no idea what that word means so stop using words like it" look. Clancy had that expression too, sometimes-I wonder if after all this time, he is still alive. If he turned into a Heartless like that old woman did, then I think I would lose the rest of my sanity. I sit back against the Master Emerald, watching Knuckles go down the altar steps; how long it will take for me to go back home? How many times have I seen Knuckles walk down the same steps, how many times have I crossed the same streets to get to Erick, how many times have I ended up napping and snoozing after training like I used to do at home? Ah, I can almost taste the sullen wind that used to blow in my village, making the willows' leaves dance in the wind. When will I ever make it back home?

Nighttime descends upon us, the dark cyan sky cloudy yet again. They would be because I have been thinking so much about the message in the fire and when I think about it, it disturbs me. Perhaps Knuckles is right, I am going too deep into this and being a little superstitious. Another night's rest will be enough to eradicate these dreary thoughts. Knuckles is back up the altar steps, taking his sleeping position behind the Master Emerald but seems more earnest than earlier today. "Do you really think bad stuff is gonna start happening?"

"I am not a prophet Knuckles but I think we need to be more careful starting now."

* * *

"Master, can I ask you something?" I ask him innocently. Master smiles, gesturing for me to walk with him towards the upper floor. "Those are the first words you've spoken in three days, Pupil. What ails you?"

"Are we…are we still attacking World 75?" I ask tentatively with a breaking voice. I sound so weak and ready to cry at any moment, it's _pathetic_. Master already got upset when I sobbed over Seth's body and Gineam just watched me like Gineam always does. "Of course we are," we walk up the staircase together. "Just because there is one player out of the game doesn't mean that the game ends. There are other powerful pieces left, like you and Gineam." Anxiously, my eyes fall to the silent steps as one side of my black hair drapes over my shoulder. "You dyed your hair again. If you put the same effort you put into dying your hair every two weeks into using the Darkness bestowed upon you, you'd be just as powerful as Seth." His name almost makes me choke but instead, the stringency in his tone stings my heart and makes my eyes burn. I stop walking with him. "Is that all you wanted to know?"

"Yes Master," I swallow hard to hide the tears.

"Your eyes say something more Pupil."

"I'm sorry-I'm sorry! I won't cry again, I really won't do it this time-"

"It's that weakness that will help you carry out your mission with Gineam." He leaves me suffering in the form of whimpering as I lean on the railing for support. Not only do my breasts really hurt, but I'm crying again-why can't I stop? Seth wouldn't want me to cry this much, maybe if he was alive he would be consoling me.

* * *

There is the violet-blue fire, raging after we defeated the Human Heartless, Deidra, who ate the hearts and souls of everyone she encountered, me, Mia, and Mizuki being the exceptions. The fiery letters are so clear, so crystal clear: _Darkness is coming for you_. I wake up with a cold shiver despite the warmth of sixty-five degree weather. "Knuckles-"

"I know," he replies excitedly to my surprise. At this hour he would be passed out from smashing boulders and taking earlier naps, I wonder why he is up. "Who's there?" When nobody in the darkness says anything, he shouts again, "I'm giving you 'til the count of three to say something and come out. One, two, three!" Stupidly he charges down the steps towards the stranger watching the Master Emerald. Light cerulean and purple flames engulf the stranger's body, illuminating their body. "It is you, the one who murdered Deidra," I whisper as the masked person stares at Knuckles charging towards them; I hastily remove myself from the Master Emerald. _Do not stray Risa, _a voice warns me internally. Another voice slurs in my head, _Darkness is coming._

I recognize the first voice from the first time the Master Emerald spoke to me when Don needed me to find a Chaos Emerald but the second one might have come from this stranger on fire. This voice sounded distorted, too slurred for me to decide if it is a boy or a girl. The intruder on fire looks towards me, hearing my utterance. I summon the broken Keyblade and raise it towards the mysterious, silent intruder. "What are you doing here?" They continue to observe me wordlessly through their blackened helmet. That is when Knuckles' fist hits the stranger hard enough to send them flying over the edge. Still burning as they fall, their head faces me before I can no longer see it; the light from their flames slowly descend with them, brightening the gloomy, thick clouds below. "That ends that," boasts Knuckles, clapping his hands together. "Who was that guy?"

"The one who made the message I told you about," I answer.

"Well good riddance to that," regards Knuckles smugly. I turn toward the Master Emerald and a flame bursts on top of the Master Emerald. The stranger reappears in the fire, unscathed from Knuckles punch or from its fall. "What do you want?" I ask sharply. Knuckles shouts a curse word but the aloof intruder does not move as they remains engulfed in surging flames. "I am only going to ask one more time, what are you doing here?" I warn, standing in my fighting stance with both hands clasped around the hilt of the blue blade. The intruder raises a finger and points right at me like a child who cannot speak. "Me?" The stranger nods. The smell of ash and soot is starting to cloud my senses and sicken me. From their covered fingertips, a string of green fire swirls and abruptly augments to represent a huge flame less than a foot away from me. "Risa, get back!" I obey Knuckles, never taking my eyes off the fire. Cerulean appears in the flames, eventually becoming a choppy but comprehensible image of the sky. Then brown settlements sprout up from new flames and resemble a village missing trees. A light refracts from the flames, making the image that much clearer.

"The Village of Willow, _home_," I mumble nostalgically. Is this person telling me that they can bring me back to my happy days? Could that person do that? "You can bring me back?" The intruder nods, the image still burning in front of me. Knuckles makes a gruff sound. "I don't believe it-and you shouldn't either! Come on Risa." As I reach out to the image of my home, it vanishes, giving the flame a black, hollow look to it. The stranger steps out from behind the fire, side-stepping it as if intentionally avoiding it, and gestures toward the black flame. "Oh no, there's no way she's gonna fall for your trap. Risa don't be stupid, this guy's tricking you-"

"Is this a trick?" I raise the Keyblade to their face. The flame-covered intruder does not flinch as I bring the snapped tip closer to their face. "Answer me or I will kill you where you stand." The stranger remains taciturn but shakes his head as a reply. Trust them Risa they are telling the truth-no, they singed the message into the ground, they want you to get yourself killed. But they are offering my home to me, the home I have striven to return to these past months. "Will my home be the same as it was before?" the stranger nods again, his hidden eyes on me. Slowly and reluctantly, I bring the Keyblade to my side and straighten my back. "Fine, I will go."

"Risa don'-"

I turn to the angry and hurt Knuckles sternly. "_I want to go home_, staying on this island was not part of my plan. Thank you for the shelter and I wish you the best of luck." Without hearing what he has to say, I walk into the flame, surprised that the fire is not singeing my skin. If I waited to hear what Knuckles had to say, I would not have had the strength to leave-I would be on Angel Island dreaming of what I used to do before my life was taken away.

J.G.P.


	2. Chapter 2

The warm glow of the Master Emerald is replaced with the hot flames of the stranger. I step out of the flame and merely get a glimpse of my surroundings before pointing the just-summoned Keyblade at the stranger about to step out of the flame. "This is not my home, you deceived me." The Angel Island intruder raises their hands and the flame that brought me to this dark, damp place vanishes-the only link between getting back to Angel Island has dissipated into violet gas. I should have been more careful to follow the flames, I can be such a frivolous girl sometimes, easily driven by my suppressed emotions. Do I not know better from my father that women have emotions that bring them to do stupid things? "Where is my village?" I demand, disallowing the Keyblade to drop to my side. The Angel Island intruder holds their hand out, gesturing for me to stop, and points in the direction of a faint purple light in the mouth of the damp cavern. It has to be there, I miss home despite how sullen and bland it looks-how long has it been since I have been home, almost a year? When I start to hurry in front of them, the stranger raises a hand for me to pause and then walks out of the mouth of the cavern, stepping into the puddles. I follow them out, eager to be back home but instead of there being willow trees, there is a vista of a vast, pale landscape.

Fragments of rocks float carelessly above the light violet abyss below. The ground we walk on is broken off also; this place lacks a breeze, a sun, and real water-even though there are puddles here, some sort of liquid splashes. What kind of place does not even have a real sun? Is this the true form of my village now? The stranger leaps over to a mountain floating in mid-air and watches me. I jump after them without a problem, surprised that my descent from gravity is slower than usual. Does the pyro master think I am a fool and that they will deceive me a second time? "This is not my village, where are we?" Not surprising, the stranger stares at me and then turns to head up the cracked mountain. Abruptly, it splits in two pieces and the two of us swiftly leap to the second half of the split mountain. When my left hand brushes against the Angel Island intruder's helmet, the words in the fire burn into my mind: _Darkness is coming for you._ Since the person who issued the warning is here, why not ask? But this silent person most likely will not answer, it is like talking to me. Instead of asking, I keep my mouth shut and follow them down the mountain. The silent intruder hops off, landing on a sturdy, fragmented rock piece and then jumping rock to rock towards a spiral violet light far away from both of us. The Village of Willow must be in that spiral, that is what the Angel Island intruder wants to show me.

Skipping along these rocks reminds me of that time when I was hopping along the rocks at home with that beautiful, surreal woman. I wished that she could have stayed with me forever-but that is a childish wish. I have fourteen rings on me and at home that is the nuptial age and Father would have me tuck away the sword permanently and he would send me off before the year ended-I am an adult now. "How far is it, my home?" I inquire as he stops on the former mountain formation ten feet away from the spiral. The intruder nods and the faint purple light make the person's armor look almost surreal. I look down at my turquoise kimono, noticing that the dim-violet light makes it shimmer. "You did not answer my question."

The intruder nods again and points to the huge spiral. When I walk straight for it, I bump into an invisible barrier, stopping me from going any further. I face the Angel Island intruder and watch them steer off course, heading east and leaping in a random, inconsistent pattern. For some reason, it is relieving to be around this person but only because he or she does not bark orders at me and tell me what to do, it makes me feel free. That man Don made me feel the same way when I told him about the curse but I should not get used to it. It is only a matter of time before someone uses me to do their bidding.

* * *

I can't spend another afternoon crying about something I can't control. I have to be a "big girl and stop the waterworks" as my sister would complain habitually. Master tells me almost the same thing, but I can't stop when the tears well up in my eyes. "Mia," a weak whisper comes from Seth, eyes wide open. "Stop, stop."

"Seth, can you hear me?" I ask gently, hovering over his bed. He hasn't spoken since I found him in his room laying cold. I wasn't sure if he was dead but now I realize that he was dead for a while because Master is trying to strengthen him. It's pure torture for Seth to see the girl he hates for a while but it'll only make him stronger. He won't wake up for a while but when he does, _I'm_ going to be the first person he sees. This will bring us that much closer and then he'll focus solely on Mia's demise. "Pupil," the Master opens my bedroom door with a cold, uncaring gaze. "Change into your proper attire and prepare yourself for entering World 75. I'm putting you in charge."

"Master I'm pleased," I quickly wipe the tears away and hide my face with my tangled, unkempt hair. "Seth should have been-"

"Seth shouldn't have raised his tone," he interrupts brusquely. "Gineam is waiting on you, look your best. The tears will probably work in your favor."

"Yes Master." When he closes the door, I sigh, trying to stroke through my knotted hair but I get stuck along the way. It used to be so soft but Darkness has changed it-when I once said that to Master, he replied, _"That's because you're wearing the Darkness like a tight belt, suffocating yourself. Wear the Darkness like the dress you have on now."_

"Like the dress I have now," I whisper to myself as I grab the bottom of the black, dress and pull it over my head. Tossing it carelessly on the floor, I walk over to the dresser and pull out two shirts and a pair of shorts. I don't even know what the weather is like there, how should I dress? Time stands still and goes over our heads here. Well let's see, Seth left Mia when it was almost winter and I've been here since the past summer, in my world's time, so it's really been awhile. Was it all worth it? Leaving home, coming here about a year ago, I can't believe that I was that bold and courageous that I wanted to go to a new world. I look down on my fingertips and see the black streaks I'm forming shining weakly. As if holding shampoo, I soak the concentrated streaks through my jet black hair and feel the cold, tantalizing Darkness permeate my scalp.

' ' '

"Are you ready to bring down your first world?"

"I'm ready."

"Gineam should almost be done with the second guardian of the Master Emerald. You just need to-"

"Master, I understand what I have to do and I am ready for it. I've run out of real tears."

* * *

I knew she shouldn't have gone with that shady guy, I knew it. It just pisses me off thinking about what she said to me, talking down to me like I'm some loser. She shouldn't have left, she really shouldn't have. "Who needs her? I don't," I grumble to myself. It's better this way, the way it was before Risa came and brought her trouble here. Too bad I never saw her face 'cause she was wearing that stupid hood the entire time. I'll admit, having her here made things pretty exciting but the boredom always comes back at some point. I bet she's livin' it up back at home; she didn't even let me say goodbye to her, she must have been too happy to stay for another second. Whatever. "Hey, who's there?" I yell at the black blob running from the trees, storming down the steps to meet it. Could that be Risa? She's back from her own planet and came to visit me? No, it's some other girl that looks nothing like her. "What're you doing here?" I confront the teenage stranger.

The last time a stranger was here he took off with Risa but this girl is different from that stranger. "Why are you yelling?" whines the girl with her cracking voice. "I just came to find my friend Risa...and you're yelling at me." She breaks down and shields her eyes from my glare, sinking down to my level and sobbing loudly.

"You're friends with Risa?" I ask guiltily when I reach her.

"Y-yes! She's one of my _dear friends_ and I've searched _everywhere_ for her," she exclaims tearfully. "I need her, where is she? I heard she was on this island."

"Sorry, sorry, how did you get-" her wails cover the rest of my question and I scratch my head embarrassingly. This isn't the first time I've made someone cry and I can't help but freeze up when I'm next to someone who's sobbing. "Sorry," I feel my face heating up as if it got 100 degrees hotter on the island. The green light from the Master Emerald flickers behind me-I turn to see someone touching it, making the light dim out. "Hey you!" The masked guy from yesterday! What's he doing here without Risa-did he really bring her home? Ugh, I don't time to think about that, what's he doing with the Master Emerald? "Cut it out!"

As I run towards the intruder, I stand petrified when I'm at the bottom step in awe of the new purple light gleaming from the Master Emerald-my worst fear coming true. The Master Emerald turns bitter black and before I can reach the masked guy, it shatters, scattering its burning fragments off the floating island. Watching each piece fall adds a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. My rage takes over as I lunge for the masked guy with my fist aimed for his face. He avoids the hit and jumps far enough to drop off the island. Looking back at the sobbing girl, she's no longer on the ground crying but standing with dry, bloodshot eyes and a half-smile plastered on her face. "You-tricked me!" An earthquake rocks the floating island to my horror and I grab the pillar down below to hang on to. Unsteadily, she bends her knees, inching slowly towards the edge of the island.

"You're not a very good guardian," says the dark-haired girl in the weird outfit. Furiously, I charge towards her and she uses the punch to the stomach to fall off the falling island. I better brace for impact and then beat myself up later for letting them trick me and destroy the Master Emerald-I won't let them get away with this, I swear it.

J.G.P.

**And I leave you with that cliffhanger for a while, I hope you enjoyed the story. **


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